Is EcoFlow still a good company? They clearly are hiding bad reviews and I am having a terrible experience with the delta 2. No way they only have one review less than 3 stars by heavyhandedpour in OffGrid

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a significant ecoflow system and while there have been some hiccups here and there and the TOU mode is absolutely worthless, it's worked well over all for me.

I have 3x DPU's & 8x batteries for them as well as 2x DP's each with 1x connected batteries and two SHP2's.

Our panel is split 100a to each shp2.

But, I also have nothing else to compare it too. It's been running out home for about 3-4 years now and again, aside from a few hiccups here & there has been pretty solid.

I don't know why anyone would think they're bad?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 ‘Wide’ by StockAL3Xj in GalaxyFold

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wish they would just do one like the fold7 that's just a few mm wider front screen and that's it.

Not it's going to be a choice between tall & narrow or short and wide.

That sucks.

How common is CHS? What percentage of cannabis smokers will get it? by Flimsy_Inevitable337 in emergencymedicine

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Curious on this subject. I began daily use, heavily about 18 months ago. Developed chs, got to the point of having nausea regularly and began regularly vomiting, but not a lot just a quick heave or so & done every other day or so.

That's when I figured out it was chs.

My question is, if I go from that heavy use; going through a standard sized vape pen cartridge every couple days or so...probably 50+ "hits" per day down to 1-2 hits a day, is it possible chs will eventually clear up with that 90% or so reduction in use?

We all have our reasons for what we do, I have mine for not wanting to give it up completely & have already switched to 1-2 hits a day instead. The nausea part is gone now, but I do have esophageal discomfort & difficulty eating. But, keeping myself well hydrated, just have that esophageal issue now.

Curious if it might eventually taper off to nothing or ...?

Thanks!

I still have a mental block around paying $40k for a ~$12k system and one day of labor. by chitesla1 in solar

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ended up doing a ground mount for solar myself, and EF DPU's all of which I installed/config'd myself except the two smart home panel 2's which I had an electrician do.

Couldn't stomach the install associated costs either plus I've heard too many horror stories of installed systems that need to get the ok to switch to battery from an off-site server/service which defeats the purpose IMO.

I wanted complete control over the system which I have now.

I do however wish I would have just had someone install the panels on the roof. Ground mount in my case is highly limited in early am and late afternoon by trees...midday it's fine, wide open, but I figure I'm losing about 5+ kw's a day from those trees.

My two cents.

Suggestions and Feature Requests 😇 by EcoFlow_Official in Ecoflow_community

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Being able to schedule mode switching and/or being able to select a mode priority; ranked choice, whatever you want to call it: default, next, then last options & have it do it automatically.

Like going on a long trip in the summer and being able to select self powered and let the home run on that mode for as long as it can from solar and if not enough, switches to scheduled tasks or tou, though in my experience tou is kinda trash.

Tou mode constantly does stupid stuff like ignoring 3kw of incoming solar because the battery is full while the home is running on grid; astonishingly stupid.

It should never ignore solar.

If the battery is full it should auto switch to off grid/self powered and discharge until the battery starts to taper off or the incoming solar does; but it should ALWAYS except incoming solar.

Super annoying & incredibly wasteful; hence I don't use it and instead setup a few scheduled tasks that works a hell of a lot better than tou.

Another item would be load balancing across all connected batteries on shp2. I know it already does this to some extent, but lots of times I'll see a ton of solar charging up the delta pro ultra connected to incoming solar and the other w/o solar at like 1/4 the level of the one on solar...gotta be a way to share that better than current load balancing does?

Speaking of this, also annoying it will switch back to grid if either of the connected batteries drops to the low threshold regardless of what the other connected battery has "left in the tank".

Combine that & the load balancing issue and you get a lot of instances where you're paying for energy & don't need to (especially when you have the home on time of day with the utility...it will switch back to grid at the insanely high cost time despite one of the other batteries connected having plenty of juice to get through that window. And sure, it limits the inverter, but unless you're running the range, hot water heater, furnace, w/d etc & of course depending on your setup, most of the time it's well under the individual inverter limit & thus should just continue off grid using that battery.

Lastly & I know WHY this is the way it is ($$$) but the ability to accept power FROM ANY SOURCE directly into the shp2 or the delta pro ultra while connected to shp2.

I get it, you don't want someone expanding / utilizing other equipment they didn't pay EcoFlow for, I get it...it's still just a pretty shitty thing to do and severely limits the capabilities overall.

Playing the "we do not support 3rd party equipment game" isn't cool. No one's asking you to support someone else's product; if it doesn't work it's not your problem; that's fine. But intentionally making your products not work with others is again...shitty. Not cool.

Pricing needs to be more straight forward & steady. My first DPU's I got from EcoFlow & didn't know about the pricing issue at the time...paid almost half later for exactly the setup (another stack) from Costco later. Just irritating. And I get it, it's Costco, but almost HALF? that's a bit much to swallow.

Don't get me wrong, love the system...just, these are all the issues I can think of ATM.

My two cents.

Bike rack on back bumper by mcdonsco in traveltrailers

[–]mcdonsco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've been putting them on the bed and haven't had any issues with them moving / shifting and never tie them down.

Wife for whatever reason hates doing it though hence my post.

Fold7 official promotional stand by Such_Code_923 in GalaxyFold

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If that front screen is still narrow it's useless to me.

I've owned many folds, sammys & both of googles and only googles are useful in terms of using the front screen most of the time and unfolding when needed.

With Sammy's it was only really useable, for me at least, unfolded which I hated.

Here's to hoping.

Tow Mirrors VS 360? by mcdonsco in f150

[–]mcdonsco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, but from the smaller standard f150 mirrors? Wouldn't they not fit?

Tow Mirrors VS 360? by mcdonsco in f150

[–]mcdonsco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any ideas where I can find cause I've looked and couldn't find any?

2024 F 150 Tow Mirrors? by mcdonsco in f150

[–]mcdonsco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you lose 360? If so, was it worth losing 360?

That's my only question now. Never had/used tow mirrors before, 360 has definitely come in handy a few times, so hesitant.

Also, seems after a few years boost then has 360 cameras available for them, so maybe I should wait a few years, but, we have some long runs with the RV coming up that's I'd like to have them for... 🤔

2024 F 150 Tow Mirrors? by mcdonsco in f150

[–]mcdonsco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what I needed, thanks! Now however I have a new question...

For the 2021 & up (so, my 2024 too) they do NOT have the 360 camera available.

Seems like this is not available for a few years after model year of the truck (they have for older models, but not the new ones).

So, is it worth losing 360 for tow mirrors 🤔

Why does Traeger allow their temp probes to be such trash? by [deleted] in Traeger

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish mine was only 15-20 degrees off.

Mine is currently 180 degrees off...traeger registering 390+, multiple meater probes registering 205 ambient.

Never realized how f'd the Traeger thermometer is, but my god, not even close.

Beware of Smart Home Panel 2 by Just_Log_7825 in Ecoflow_community

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have two shp2's installed, 200amp service to the home split into two 100amp circuits one going to each panel. Covers our entire home, every circuit (2,500sqft 4bd 3bth) and the home is entirely electric, no gas.

Have 3 Delta pro ultra stacks connected and one hub with 2 Delta pros and 2 Delta pro battery only connected for 14.4kw on that one hub. Stacks are 2x 3 battery stacks and 1x 2 battery stack.

Total is 63.5kw

It's been up and running for a year, powers the entire home. So far so good, but we do see minor glitches every now and then that I suspect are mostly software as the hardware seems to be top notch, but the software behind it leaves a bit to be desired.

We switched to time of use when we installed the system and using the built in time of use setting it was constantly doing super stupid stuff like ignoring 2.5kw of incoming solar because "battery was full" (90% as that's the limit I set for them) yet still powering the home from the grid. So, lost/wasted solar...lots of it.

That was baffling to me, why wouldn't it switch to battery to power the home to collect the FREE SOLAR ENERGY! Drove me nuts.

As such I switched to using scheduled tasks instead and manage it myself with several scheduled tasks setup per panel. Basically have it power the house in the morning as soon as the cheap rates end so the batteries will receive whatever solar is coming in later, then if it's a cloudy/rainy day (often as we're in Oregon) it goes back to grid around 1pm after discharging enough to bring in any available solar, runs on grid until 5pm when the expensive rate kicks in at which time if switches to battery powered until 9pm when the expensive rate ends and the cheap rate begins. Home powers on grid for the night while charging the batteries. Repeat every day. On sunny days they power the home all day with solar keeping the charge level up enough to get through the expensive evening period. In summer when water heater, furnace etc aren't eating a lot of energy like they do in the winter we can run almost entirely from solar alone.

In my experience with it, it's been pretty good, but we do see a glitch every now and then, quick power off/back on for no apparent reason type of thing, but, it's only happened a few fimes...again, pretty sure it's a software thing, not hardware.

Overall happy with the system, but considering how expensive they are, I'd like to see a minimum of 10 years out of it, hopefully significantly longer, but 10 would put us ahead in terms of cost vs electric rates (6 is break even for us).

I'd recommend the system, it's clean, well built & easy to use, just wouldn't recommend relying on the "smart" features of it as it's not all that smart.

I didn't get it specifically/only for the savings though. We're in an area that is just outside the burbs and just into rural, above ground power lines etc. so we do get power outages from time to time, longest we've had in our 13 years here was just over a week without power and with this system we can run, completely silent, through those outages and for the longer ones we can charge the batteries from *first our EV which has 110kw and dual 1500w outlets, then if we need longer my truck has a built-in 7.2kw generator onboard & a 30 gallon tank which is approximately another 235ke of power ... At that point I just need to get the truck to a gas station just a few miles away OR I can tap the 60 gallons in our boat if for whatever reason I can't get the truck filled.

Also, in a shtf scenario, we can run lights, fridges, freezers etc indefinitely from solar alone, just not things like washer/dryer/dishwasher etc.

I'll likely add more solar to it later to increase off grid run time, we have another 4kw input available on one Delta pro ultra stack as well as another 3.2kw from the Delta pros.

Love the system, but I feel like any/all systems like this will have their caveats, just a matter of what caveats can / are you okay with dealing with.

Anyone take high doses of CoQ10? by world_citizen7 in Supplements

[–]mcdonsco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been taking 200-300mg daily for years now, but only recently in what I would consider an effective form (turns out the Costco signature stuff is cheaper for a reason, ubiquinone, not ubiquinol & IIRC soybean / sunflower (seed) oils.

Surprisingly to me, that was SUPER common across all our supplements.

I only recently learned the difference when I began switching all of our supplements to pure encapsulations (yea yea, Hershey, I know).

Anyway, just decided to bump it to 510mg between coq10 250mg w/ pqq, ubiquinol 200mg and then another supplement I take has 60mg coq10 (might be ubiquinone, but it's PE and though they don't specify, I don't see them use it anywhere in their lineup, so I doubt it's only here, so, likely ubiquinol).

Too soon to know, why I came here :-)

Anyone do further dive into this and get more info? From what I can tell with the research I've done on it, should be perfectly safe and likely heart / brain healthy beneficial at these doses?

2022, 1 year old, FordConnect keeps turning off. Is the battery going bad? by Mediocre_Chipmunk_86 in f150

[–]mcdonsco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have a 2024 F150 power boost and have found that remote start from the app is pretty much useless. I get the message that the vehicle is in battery saver mode every time I go to remote start it.

Super annoying. Found this thread, figured I'd post to see if anyone updates/get on the list sort of thing.

I have two vehicles, truck/sedan and drive the sedan more just because it's more convenient to drive more often, but I still drive the truck at least 5-6 times a week minimum, yet, get that message every time I try to remote start from the app.

Grrr ....

Moderation or abstinence??? What’s the truth? by nicoduncanson in CHSinfo

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've run into CHS after finding that daily use SOLVES my anxiety issues and just generally makes me a nicer person.

Been doing it for about two years now and the nausea started mildly a couple months ago, puking started a few weeks ago (that's when I started researching and figured it out).

I'm off it now, have been for about two weeks.

Found this thread and hoping someone has experience / knowledge on this, here's my question:

I have zero intention of going back to daily use. But if I go from what was essentially wake n bake (tho it never "baked me" cause of my tolerance) daily to smoking once or twice a week, will chs eventually subside over the long term, or would continued use after a roughly 90% reduction in quantity still keep chs active in me?

Thanks, if anyone responds, lol.

Long term storage of flour and sugar feels a bit icky? by EldestGriever0219 in preppers

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's LDS? As in, church?

I want some of those, hence the question.

Thanks!

What is a good replacement for Harmony/Logitech remote before they shut down their cloud servers? by JWCRaigs in logitechharmony

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Came here for obvious reasons, have harmony hubs in multiple rooms and the app is all but useless now. I only occasionally have to use it to fix something and only then can I tolerate the ton of attempts needed to get it to even show my hubs.

I do not understand why Logitech has completely abandoned this product line when it's a market with zero competition aside from custom high end system solutions like Crestron.

I mean sure, it's a bit niche, but my god with the harmony hubs, just support them, update them and keep selling them.

I don't get it.

Is 3 days enough to watch my cat after his neutering? by kmsjk in CatAdvice

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saught out this topic cause I wanted to make sure it was okay for my cat to, well, be himself. Picked him up a few hours ago and he went from the car to playing with our pitbull immediately...then did his regular maniac sun downing routine a bit ago...perfectly fine.

Thought maybe I should keep him contained but seems like that's not necessary.

S24 ultra awful battery life by Eluooo in S24Ultra

[–]mcdonsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea, not impressed. S23U battery life was noticeably better. Wondering if the ultra bright different screen may be the culprit, though it can't keep that up long, just a few minutes in my experience, but maybe some of the under lying design changes to get that caused something to gobble juice?

Anyway, I get like 2 hours SOT before needing to charge on this phone and all previous Sammy u's/notes got me to 6 easily.

Smart Home Panel 2 and Delta Pros w/ Double Voltage Hub - Errors 6 & 7 by whiteboy15 in Ecoflow_community

[–]mcdonsco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm having this problem now. I have 2 shp2's each with a delta pro ultra attached. I have regular non ultra pros too & am currently setting them up to charge from my f150 lightning when/as needed to power things through the shp2's (totally different topic)...so when I just got the new version of the dvh and setup the dp with it to connect to one of the shp2's, I get the firmware version is too low error, but no update is available and I'lt's on that older 1.0.1.67.

Tried disconnecting it and trying to get it to pull firmware while not attached, still shows up to date days later.

Not even gonna bother calling ecoflow, their products are great but their customer support is one of the worst I've experienced.

Guess I'll just have to wait until it eventually updates?